Ever have album art melt your face? Every once and awhile a band will
create or commission artwork which is undeniably awesome, iconic, or
inspiring. Sometimes it compliments the music in the perfect way,
leaving a mark on the listener or maybe even music history itself.
Welcome to the Art Gallery. We're gonna take a look at some really impressive art while listening to some great music in the process.
Have you ever seen artwork that was so damn awesome that you still remember the first time you saw it? I was flattened when Amon Amarth's "Twilight of the Thunder God" came out in 2008. Not only by the music but by the insanely detailed scene depicted on the front cover. THIS IS VIKING METAL \m/
Human Improvement process is an impressive band emerging Italy on
Memorial Records. This year they dropped a great record "Deafening
Dissonant Millenium" bolstering some mind bending artwork. Better yet,
it compliments the title of the album in an unsettling way. Highly
recommended on all counts. We should have a review on this one coming
soon!
Exivious needed to be included because of the way that they experiment with their artwork. For both of their albums, they've allowed the fans to create their own poster based on the official album art. The process for their latest album "Liminal" (read our review here) was intricate to say the least. All in all this band has spawned incredible results (take a look here).
It's been about four years since the release of the damn near flawless
Exivious self-titled debut. What was originally a Cynic / Textures side
project has experienced a few line up changes in that time but has still
emerged strong as a full-time band. With the departure of drummer Stef Broks (Textures) came the installment of the insanely talented Yuma van Eekelen. Tymon Kruidenier (ex-Cynic) and Michel Nienhuis still command the guitar corps as Robin Zielhorst (ex-Cynic) handles the bass. Together, they make awesome things happen.
For example, the band ran a very successful crowd funding campaign earlier in the year which allowed fans to
make custom tweaks to the album artwork through a unique application (representing a constant state
of change, thus "Liminal"). Ever since, the anticipation has mounting and now they're on the loose again with their
sophomore full-length "Liminal"!
If you haven't got to listen yet, it is PHENOMENAL! It is the manifestation of pure creativity and taste. Same as with their self-titled, they bring an excellent mix of hypnotizing instrumental progressive music with a jazzy, experimental flavour. Except this time around it's much more melodically focused and matured in some ways. You can actually stream the entire album through our friends at got-djent.com. I've been letting my mind melt onto this one since last week. It's successfully become the soundtrack of my life, if you will. And with good reason.
The single "Entrust" appropriately opens the experience with a sense of awe and mystery, two things that will ensue throughout the duration of the album. Before you know it, the opener thrusts your ears into a world of beautiful melody and creative force, two more elements that will follow through the record. Because of this, it more or less functions as the perfect opening.
And the fun doesn't stop there. Every single track on "Liminal" has something exciting and original to offer. Right after "Entrust", Yuma lets loose with an awesome drum solo on the track "One's Glow". The second single "Alphaform" brings you to a world of elevated musical sensuality. "Triguna" is the most experimental track on the album. "Deeply Woven" is possibly my favorite track on the record with an awesome Jonas Knutsson sax contribution... but it's very hard to say with the sheer amount of aural pleasures present. Especially when you stack it up to the remaining "Movement", "Open", and "Immanent" which are all beautifully conceived, breathtaking additions.
I have no real criticisms here. But I will criticize you if you've read this much of the review and don't give "Liminal" a try. This album's damn near perfect, if not perfect. It's an easy 10 out of 10 in my book. And strangely enough, the only two 10's I've ever given on this site have been back to back...
To wrap things up, Exivious have truly outdone themselves. Rebounding from the last record and the events since, they've managed to create a truly awe-inspiring and matured experience in "Liminal". Missing this album should be considered a crime for music lovers.
Go ahead and stream the tracks above. And don't forget, got-djent.com has the entire album running online. If you enjoy the music as much as we do, be sure to support Exivious and grab yourself a CD here!
We're honored to have Exivious as our Artist of the Week! It's been about four years since the release of the damn near flawless
Exivious self-titled debut. What was originally a Cynic / Textures side
project has experienced a few line up changes in that time but has still
emerged strong. Now they're on the loose again with their
sophomore full-length "Liminal"! And if you haven't got to listen yet, it is PHENOMENAL!
We had the chance to interview the lead guitarist Tymon Kruidenier (ex-Cynic). Read up below and jam the tracks!
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TK = Tymon Kruidenier
MT = Mike Thall
MT - How did the band get started up?
TK - As a lot of bands get started I guess. I was a young metal head with an electric guitar and wanted to start my own band. But that was all the way back in 1997, when I just started playing actually. It wasn't until 2005 that the modern day Exivious was born. At that point, I knew pretty well where I wanted to go with Exivious, I spent years trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to do. So when I finally found the right musicians to work with in 2005, we took some years to gel and pinpoint the exact direction we wanted to go in. And that's where it really started.
MT - How did you come up with the name Exivious?
TK - It's a little embarrassing to explain, but my excuse is that I came up with it when I was 17 years old. Exivious doesn't mean anything, it just popped into my head during an English lesson at school. We debated changing the name, back when we released our first album. But we figured we already build up a bit of a name in the underground scene, so we decided to stick with it. An added bonus though, is that it's very easy to look us up on the internet. Literally all hits on a Google search for Exivious are related to the band haha.
MT - You guys have a new album dropping THIS WEEK! Can you tell us about it?
TK - Yes, finally! I held the CD in my hands for the first time 3 days ago. It's an awesome feeling to finish such a long process. We pretty much spent the last 2 to 3 years putting this thing together. But yeah, what can I tell you about it? It's a more balanced album, it's heavier, it's softer, it's more dynamic, it's more epic and even though I hate the word, it's a lot more mature than our debut. We are quite happy with it ourselves!
MT - Any songs in particular we should be watching out for?
TK - Each song on Liminal really has its own identity and story to tell. I'm excited about all of them for different reasons. Triguna, composed by Michel, is the most abstract song on the album with a very intense ending. One's Glow is a very energetic and rhythmic song with an awesome drum solo by Yuma. Immanent is a very groovy song with some really big and epic parts in it. I hope there's something for everyone on Liminal!
MT - What was it like transitioning from your debut to the new album?
TK - Very natural and easy actually. The first album took a long time because we were still searching for an identity. With Liminal, we already knew very well what we liked about our sound, what we didn't like so much, what new influences we wanted to add to our sound, etc. So it really was a matter of sitting down and letting the ideas flow. There were the occasional struggles of course, but that comes with the territory of being a perfectionist.
MT - You're among the select bands to run a successful crowdfunding campaign. How does it feel to have that kind of support?
TK - Amazing! We might not have millions of followers, being in this niche type of music, but the followers we do have are really dedicated and loyal. And we're very grateful for that! We worked our asses off to try and create something special with Liminal. It's very exciting to send it out to our backers next week, I really hope they'll like it!
MT - Who or what inspires your music?
TK - Who or what doesn't? We love to get inspired by abstract things like emotions, dreams, situations, nature or just life in general. It's quite challenging to try and capture these concepts in instrumental music, but very rewarding. Other than that, we inspire each other in the band. And then there's all the great music out there to get inspired by.
MT - What was it like transitioning from Cynic to Exivious?
TK - Freedom! To do exactly what I want to do, music wise and business wise. And to do all of this with 3 great and likeminded friends who happen to be great musicians. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for my time with Cynic. I gained tons of experience and had so much fun. But having said that; I'm a bad follower. I always have a clear idea on how to do things and on how to improve things. That wasn't my place in Cynic. With Exivious we're all on the same page, we share similar goals, similar tastes in music and we're just great friends. I'm very happy with where Exivious is at right now.
MT - Rumor has it Exivious may be going full-time. Any light you can shed on this?
TK - We'll always have our side projects, because that's just fun to do. And me and Yuma are both working as producers and engineers as well, work that we love to do. But Exivious has priority over everything else at this point, so we're hoping to treat Exivious pretty much as a full-time commitment.
MT - Have you toured much?
TK - Not yet! After we released our debut, Robin and I were touring all the time with Cynic, so we didn't have the chance to gig with Exivious. When we quit Cynic, we did 1 European tour with Exivious, supporting Obscura and Gorod and then got to work for Liminal. So now that Liminal is done and almost out, we're hoping to finally do some proper touring with this band!
MT - Any favorite shows?
TK - I loved playing at Brutal Assault in 2011, an open air festival in Czech Republic. Such a great atmosphere! And there were some awesome shows on our last tour as well. I remember the show in London (Underworld), the show in Haarlem (Patronaat) and the one in Prague (Black Pes) as some of my favorites. I usually prefer smaller, more intimate venues, for the type of music we play.
MT - What's the craziest thing that has happened to you at a show or on the road?
TK - Traveling all the way to India with Robin, for a gig with Cynic at a festival, only to find out Paul & Sean couldn't make it due to visa problems. We got put up in this ridiculously big villa that was part of a resort with a swimming pool and an awesome buffet (3 times a day). So we then agreed on playing some kind of ambient set, just Robin and me. We prepared some interesting ambient versions of Cynic and Exivious songs, only to find out the entire festival got cancelled the next day! So all we did was eat ridiculous amounts of food, 3 times a day, and then fly back home hahaha.
MT - If you could tour with any bands in the world, who would you take the stage with?
TK - I'd love to tour with bands like Devin Townsend Project or Opeth. It would be awesome to share our music with a bigger crowd. But it would also be fun to see what would happen if we would support a post-rock band like God Is An Astronaut. Touring is fun anyways and what's most important to me, is that the guys in the bands you're touring with are cool. So as long as that's in order, it's all good!
MT - What do you guys do for fun?
TK - Play the guitar, compose new songs, play gigs... but I'm guessing that's pretty obvious. Other than that, I love to tinker with computers and other geeky things. I love to think, to travel, to read interesting articles and to watch good movies. I also love spending time with friends and my parents and siblings. Nothing out of the ordinary really. And the other dudes are just as boring as I am.
MT - Favorite alcoholic beverage?
TK - Belgian special beers. Dubbel, tripel, quadrupel... they're all awesome!
MT - Is there anything you want to say to the fans out there?
TK - Thanks for taking the time to read this and I'm hoping you'll dig our new album! And if you're one of the people who supported us by backing our crowd-funding campaign: thank you once again!
__________________________________________________________________________________
It's been about four years since the release of the damn near flawless
Exivious self-titled debut. What was originally a Cynic / Textures side
project has experienced a few line up changes in that time but has still
emerged strong. Now they've emerged from the studio after creating their
sophomore full-length "Liminal"! And from the
songs / clips that have been made available thus far, it is sounding PHENOMENAL!
After running a successful crowd funding campaign which allowed fans to make custom tweaks to the album artwork (representing a constant state of change, thus "Liminal"), they're currently gearing up for the actual release.
Speaking of which, the band recently sent us (and all their supporters) a detailed press release. Read up for additional info below (including the release dates) and ogle the artwork / jam the single. Your ears can thank me later.
P.S. Our friends at got-djent exclusively released another track. Get on that!
__________________________________________________________________________________
Hey guys!
OK, this is not really a studio report because the album has been done for quite some time now. But let's just keep the tradition of using the term 'studio report' for any kind of updates on Liminal.
Announcements
In all our excitement from announcing us being signed to Season of Mist and us working with booking agency Factory Music, we actually forgot to update you guys through email. We know, not everyone is following us on Facebook so some of you might have missed these announcements. If you want to read more about these announcements, please visit our new website at www.exivious.net
Release date
So, we finally have a release date for Liminal! November 8th in Europe and November 12th in the US. We wish it could have been faster, but unfortunately, labels need their time to prepare releases and November was the absolute earliest they could do. Our apologies for the long wait!
Crowdfunding / label version confusion
There's been some confusion about a crowdfunding version of Liminal verses a label version. To clear things up: there will only be one version. The customers who pre-ordered the digipak will receive the digipak as is. The customers who ordered the Personalized Unique Edition will receive the digipak packaged in a fancy little box together with their own unique poster, some stickers and a flyer. All orders (digipak / Personalized Unique Edition / PUE plus shirt etc.) will be sent out at the same time: as soon as we receive the digipaks from Season of Mist.
Thanks for the patience and the support!
Exivious
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Video and final report coming soon! Read up on Report 1 HERE, Report 2 HERE, and Report 3 HERE.
After the hard work of Saturday we were happy to have a relaxing and enjoyable day Sunday, even though we strongly started to feel the need to take a shower.
But as soon as the concerts started we immediately attended the Mask Of Judas performance. We also had an interview scheduled with them in the afternoon. They played songs from their latest mini album “Axis” and I must say I liked their live performance more than their studio material, which I definitely appreciate. After them it was the time for Chronograph's heavy performance on the main stage, followed by Basick Record's and Peterborough's very own Visions, and Monolith Music's Nexilva.
Later on the main stage, one of the funniest moments of the festival took place. Sadly Aliases performance had been cancelled, so the Tech-Fest team decided to replace them with a party. Stiff Bizkit, a Limp Bizkit cover band got on the stage to entertain the attenders for a half hour bouncing set! I was at the press area for my interview at that time so I couldn't attend most of the set, but it featured guests appearances from No Consequence, Linked, and other acts. In any case I recognized songs like “Nookie”, “My Generation”, “Break Stuff”, “Livin It Up” and more. As soon as I realized what was going on, I immediately ran from the press area to the stage to spend my last 15 minutes before the interview there as my friend was preparing the camera... Yes, I must confess I liked Limp Bizkit. They're one of the first "metal" bands I ever got into. And believe it or not, a lot of tech-heads loved that set. There were a lot of people moving, singing and jumping to those songs. It was a good way to slow down and take a funny break from the complicated proggy stuff played at the fest, and in the end everybody knows the lyrics of at least one Limp Bizkit song. You cannot escape.
After that we went back to some fast and furious technical death metal with the UK-based Dyscarnate, delivering one of the most virulent sets of the weekend (we got this on tape too...wait for it, it's coming soon!). After that we moved again to the main stage where we filmed what will be remembered as the most extreme mosh pit of this year's Tech-Fest during Heart Of A Coward's set. The band delivered a massive and devastating performance, confirming they're one of the most interesting hardcore bands to come out of the UK in recent times. They also recently signed a contract with nothing less than Century Media Records!
Shortly after, some quality instrumental music owned Tech-Fest's main stage. First, Basick Record's Chimp Spanner played a heavy and largely attended set, with a big crowd to appreciate the quality of their exhibition.
Immediately after, we saw the “only band not playing 8 strings guitars” as they defined themselves on stage. I'm talking about dutch fusion metal champions Exivious which did a virtuous and flawless exhibition with original and beautiful sounds. Unfortunately, there was just a small crowd to attend their set... The audience was probably tired from the long weekend and decided to take a break and come back for TesseracT performance, but I must say that this was probably the most clean set from a technical and instrumental point of view.
A few minutes before TesseracT's performance, Simon Garrod (Tech-Fest organizer / owner) and James Monteith (TesseracT and HoldTight PR) picked the winners of the contests to win an 8 string Ibanez RG8 and a coustom Double Slit guitar. After that, Simon delivered a small speech asking the crowd to celebrate the success of the festival with a big group hug that was one of the most moving and unforgettable moments of the weekend. Lovely. And TesseracT with the final performance? Well that was an amazing show with an exhausted but enthusiastic crowd enjoying one memorable set from the perfect band to end this festival. It was an intense, moving, and passionate performance to end Tech-Fest in the best way possible.
Yeah, because Tech-Fest, despite the timing troubles, the absence of showers and wi-fi connection, trouble finding power, and all the bands delayed or cancelled, was still the best Festival I have ever been to. And if I had to choose between finally sleeping in a bed and taking a shower the following night or sleeping for 3 more days on the grass, smelling like dirt, I would have definitely chose another Tech-Fest! If you missed this epic event, you better not make the same mistake next year. Be there!
After the big success of their crowd funding campaign to independently release their new album “Liminal”, Exivious are ready to give us a small taste of the new material.... hell yes! They deserved all the financial support as the results are mind blowing.
The dutch fusion-metal band released an amazing new single called “Entrust” featuring all the renowned characteristics of the band's sound. Expect fusion jazz mixed with amazing progressive rock and metal elements with beautiful, light atmospheres. High-level material.
As we wait for more awesomeness from “Liminal”, remember these guys will be performing at this Summer's edition of UK Tech-Metal Fest and I'm sure their performance will be one to remember! Give “Entrust” a listen below along with some previews from the new album and stay tuned for the release!
UK Tech-Metal Fest announced 11 new bands to perform at this Summer's edition of the festival. It will pack all kinds of extreme talent into Peterborough, UK from the 11th until the 15th of July! Check the full flyer down below.
The new additions are Exivious, No Consequence, Red Seas Fire, Visions, Damned Spring Fragrantia, Exist Immortal, Beyond The Dust, Shattered Skies, Foreboding Ether, Invocation, and Linked! All these new bands will now be featured alongside the 24 acts already announced, including Scar Symmetry, Tesseract, Veil Of Maya, Skyharbor, Monuments, Chimp Spanner, Sybreed and many more. This brings the count to 35 bands! And there are still more artists to be announced!
The festival has also announced the acts for the after-parties on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This will feature a DJ set from The Algorithm, a live performance from the UK-based drum n bass-metal band Collisions, Aleksandra Djelmash, Aleksandra Radosavljevic; ESO, Drewsif Stalin, and the Bilo Super Jam, featuring David Maxim Micic, Bojan Kvocka, Milan Jejina Yeqy (Destiny Potato) Jakub Zytecki (Disperse), Tymon Kruidenier (Exivious), Sam Bell (Mask Of Judas), Uri Dijk (Textures), and Adam Swan and Mike Malyan (Monuments). If you live around Europe, you better not miss this festival. It's gonna be huge!
Here are some of our most anticipated releases of 2013. This is a list of five bands with upcoming albums / EPs that will most likely land in 2013. We've also included the most recent music / announcements from each group, whether from upcoming or past releases. This is part two out of three.
Exivious just started recording guitars for their new record "Liminal" this week. Read the album preview here. Tymon is using his Parker Fly Mojo and the beautiful new Steinberger pictured below... He constructed the guitar himself through collecting different parts and got a lovely swirl paint job from Ben Eller. Go ahead and drool at the guitar porn and have a look at the assembling process here.. We also have some classic Exivious tunes for you to enjoy!
HUGE news today! It's been about four years since the release of the damn near flawless Exivious self-titled debut. What was originally a Cynic / Textures side project has experienced a few line up changes in that time but has still emerged strong. Now they are back in the studio creating their sophomore full-length "Liminal" and it's almost finished! And from the clips that have been made available thus far, it is sounding PHENOMENAL!
They are firing up a pre-order campaign in order to release the album independently. There are various levels of contribution which all come with awesome perks. These range from getting the album signed by the band to having your name in the actual album credits. But what's really cool is the option for the Personalized Unique Edition which affects the actual album artwork and comes with a custom mini poster. It is described this way...
"Liminality refers to a state of transformation. The artwork will
illustrate this, it will essentially never get to a final state. Once
you've purchased the 'personalized unique edition', you'll be asked to
login to a special website. This is where you'll be able to 'draw' your
input and change the state of transformation. The result will be your
personal, unique mini poster."
That is too awesome! Currently, they have raised 31% of their target. If you want be involved, hurry up and pre-order the record on the band's official website.
Exivious melds together jazz fusion and progressive metal with ambient and experimental flair on a level you've never heard before. This band is HIGHLY recommended in every way. Be sure to check out the official "Liminal" Pre-Order video and teaser along with some amazing tracks from the debut "Exivious" below. Stay tuned for further info.
Cynic and Textures are both incredible bands in their own right, although not the most similar. So I was caught off guard when I found out there was a project between members of Cynic and Textures called Exivious which has been around ever since 1997. This is seriously a great band. They have only released one record back in 2009. It was their self-titled debut album.
This is how one of members describes the sound of the band - "Fusion, jazz, rock, metal, those labels are rather obsolete in the case
of Exivious. The music tells a story of its own with mesmerizing beauty
and intense depth." That pretty much sums it up.
Fans have been waiting for new material for awhile now, and it looks like it may be on the horizon. Apparently the band has dropped their side project, "do it yourself" intentions, and plans to accept a record deal soon. They also have plans to embark on their first European tour very soon. These are great signs that the band is writing new material, although no official announcements have been made.
But the good news came with some bad news. Stef Broks, the incredibly talented/groovy drummer from Textures decided to leave Exivious behind. This is a huge loss as a drummer like Stef Brooks is incredibly hard to replace. The new drummer Yuma van Eekelen managed to impress the band quickly. Looking forward to hear what he does in the studio.
Stef made the following comment on the changes - "After some very exciting years of playing with these awesome musicians
and dear friends, my time has come to say goodbye. Exivious is turning
into a full time band and I simply can't find the time to be a part of
it anymore. I'd like to pass on the torch to my good friend and
colleague Yuma van Eekelen, who will replace me with style and
strength!"
We have some Exivious for your ears right here, right now. I highly recommend this group for fans of experimental, jazzy, progressive music. Enjoy.
Ever have album art melt your face? Every once and awhile a band will
create or commission artwork which is undeniably awesome, iconic, or
inspiring. Sometimes it compliments the music in the perfect way,
leaving a mark on the listener or maybe even music history itself.
